May 17, 2015 Happy Day

     Today we were able to Skype with David and Elder Smith.  They were on their way to get haircuts.  They fluffed up their hair with their hands so that we could see how long it was getting.   They both looked and sounded great. 

       Last week they went over to an investigators house and there were rats running up and down the floors and walls. They counted 8 rats. They asked the family why do you have so many rats. The family said, 'Because we feed them!" They both laughed.

      It rains every day. They drive their bikes in mud and have muddy feet and pants all the time.

      Elder Morley and Elder Smith were able to go fishing.  This is how they did it. 

They use long nets. This was David's first time. They put out the net and then they go around and splash and scare the fish into the nets, then they pull the net in and catch the fish. They caught a few and someone cooked them for them.

      50 baptismal dates given, 40 progressive investigators. They give the baptism challenge every lesson. Some dates are real and some people are just being nice. They are working hard.  He said that it is the Kiribati way and tradition to be nice.  So they must be very very careful not to just baptize people, but to make sure that they have a testimony and are sincerely desiring the gospel.  Also that they bike a lot and have like 4 places to stay depending on which area of the island they are working. 

      I enjoyed the call very much, but felt quite emotional during it, so I didn't talk much.  The call had come late and I had started thinking that it was another one of those times that the internet wouldn't work at all.  Mostly Mike asked the questions and I just watched David.  I was able to observe that he was happy and relaxed and peaceful.  He had a big smile the whole time and laughed comfortably a lot.  He seemed to be turning into an islander.  He said that no one that they work with on this island has walls on their house, only the roofs and floors. 

Hey Folks!
This'll be a quick update because I just finished skyping with Mom and Dad. Sorry to those that weren't able to be on a lot, the internet
isn't the best now. Work is going great here right now. We work hard
every day and need to go soon so that we can teach some lessons
tonight. I'll just describe our house. I live in a 'stick house'. It
is basically a platform with a thatched roof. No walls, just fresh
air. We sleep on a woven mat with a mosquito net. We have a house that
looks like a house also made of sticks to keep our stuff in and a
bathroom. The bathroom has a concrete toilet that we need to use a
bucket to flush, but it's a pain to flush and the forest is closer...
The other problem with the bathroom is that it is inhabited by a
family of pigs. There is a mother and 3 babies that sleep next to the
toilet because it is shady. We keep our soap and stuff in there for
showering with a bucket of well water. For cooking we have a kerosene
stove, it is a pain and difficult to make work, but I'm figuring it
out. Most of the time we eat with people. We live the commandment that
Jesus gave to his apostles. 'Take no thought of what ye shall eat.' We
just figure that people will feed us and it hasn't failed yet. We
usually get 2 meals a day, but we actually don't know where or when
food will come. It is really fun, and I'm still getting fat so it's a
problem! Life is great I love it here.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Morley